2000ApJ...533L.143M

L1551NE is a very young (class 0 or I) low-mass protostar located close to the well-studied L1551 IRS 5. Here we present evidence, from 1.3 mm continuum interferometric observations at ∼1" resolution, for a binary companion to L1551NE. The companion, whose 1.3 mm flux density is ~(1)/(3) that of the primary component, is located 1".43 (∼230 AU at 160 pc) to the southeast. The millimeter-wave emission from the primary component may have been just barely resolved, with a deconvolved size of ∼0'.82x0'.70 (∼131x112 AU). The companion emission was unresolved (<100 AU). The pair is embedded within a flattened circumbinary envelope of size ∼5'.4x2'.3 (∼860x370 AU). The masses of the three components (i.e., from the circumstellar material of the primary star and its companion and the envelope) are approximately 0.044, 0.014, and 0.023 M_☉, respectively.